Friday in the Finger Lakes

Day 6 in the Finger Lakes.

We had not planned our day the night before.  It is hard to believe, but we were tired of wine tasting and considered just driving home.  But after a few cups of coffee and a little brighter attitude (the weather was looking good), we decided to stop at a couple of nearby wineries before we headed home.  We intentionally "saved" visiting the wineries closest to our motel for Friday, so we could visit them on our way home without going out of our way and adding driving time to our trip home.

Despite a warning from some friends, we visited Chateau Renaissance.  They serve their tastings in plastic cups and their better wines are their sweet ones.  The serving staff were friendly, there was no tasting fee, but we did not find any wines we liked.

Our next stop was Heron Hill, one of our favorites from many years ago.  We were afraid we'd be disappointed because we had high hopes, but Karyn who served us at the tasting bar, and the wines, far exceeded any expectations.

Heron Hill

We spent over an hour talking with her and tasting wine, including a Riesling that received a 97 rating from Wine Spectator.  Even though it was a bit sweet for our tastes, it will pair well with a spicy dinner.  And how could we NOT buy a wine rated 97 when it cost only $15!  We bought a couple of bottles and may use one bottle in our Wines of the Finger Lakes class.

We almost skipped Dr. Konstantine Frank's because they are a large winery that distributes in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, but decided to try it anyway.  Signs directed us to an enclosed porch, where we had to wait for a staff member to open the door and direct a group of 20 who had gathered on the porch to a long tasting bar.  If we had happened to arrive when the porch was already crowded, we would have left, thinking there would be a long wait for the tasting. They do have a notice on the porch explaining why you are waiting, but it is at the door into the tasting room and the people at the back of the line don't know that there is a reason for the wait - so a staff member can properly take care of a whole group at once.  Luckily, we arrived when only a few others were waiting on the porch, and decided to wait a few minutes and see when the next tasting would begin.  We only had to wait a few minutes, then were directed to the tasting bar.  This was a more directed or structured tasting than most, with the server offering everyone a choice of one of two wines (one dry, one less dry) during each of 5 flights.  She was very friendly, answered questions, and made fun of her Austrailian accent.  We had a good time, there was no tasting fee, but we didn't buy any wine.  The problem with this tasting method is that the wines we were most interested in were not offered for tastings, so we could not taste, so would not buy.

We skipped Pleasant Valley and Bully Hill.  They are large, commercial wineries with wines you can buy at the PA Wine and Spirits stores.  Mostly, they feature semi-sweet and sweet wines.  Pleasant Valley produces Great Western Sparkling wines.  We had fun at these wineries years ago when we were still drinking (and enjoying) sweeter wines.

A vineyard at Six Mile Creek

After Dr. Frank's we headed home, stopping at a cheese dairy (there is also a cheese trail in the Finger Lakes), and then at a final winery, Six Mile Creek, just South of Ithaca.

We did a quick tasting and headed home.

Tomorrow we'll post one more blog summarizing our trip along with some of our favorite wineries and wines.